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Fianna Fail: 30% of candidates will be women by 2014

FIANNA Fail yesterday fast-tracked the promotion of women to high office in the party, and pledged that by 2014 a third of its election candidates would be women. Delegates at the party’s ard fheis in Killarney approved a series of rule changes setting quotas for female representation on the Fianna Fail ard comhairle, its national executive, and other internal power structures. The changes will ensure that half of the 20 executive members that are elected by the ard fheis are women.

The party has also adopted a target of ensuring that at least a third of its local and general election candidates are female by 2014. Progress towards this target will be reviewed in 2009. Fewer than one in 10 of its slate were women at the last general election in 2002.

The hour-long debate on reform was a close-run affair that appeared to be drifting away from the party